Stephen Kovacevich - Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 8, 14, 17 & 21

Warner Classics

£26.01

Format: LP
ICPN: 0190296741548
Release Date: 2nd July 2021
Genre: Classical

Packaging: LP sleeve with 180 GR. PRESSING - black vinyl – no download code - Text in English

Simply one of the greatest versions of Beethoven’s favorite Piano Sonatas.
“¬Nobody plays this music more authoritatively and eloquently,” wrote London’s Sunday Times of Stephen Kovacevich in Beethoven. “He is in his element, responding wholeheartedly to the extreme physicality that Beethoven brought to music ... but the wit and delicacy of the playing are also remarkable.” Kovacevich himself has spoken of his love for the “fun and virtuosity” of the composer’s early sonatas, while in the often challenging later works he sees a “subtext of radiance and some sort of inherent faith in life.”

TRACKLIST

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN 1770-1827

SIDE A Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 ‘Pathétique’
1 I. Grave – Allegro molto e con brio
2 II. Adagio cantabile
3 III. Rondo: Allegro

Bagatelles, Op. 126
No. 1: Andante con moto
No. 2: Allegro

SIDE B Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 ‘Moonlight’
‘Clair de lune’ · ‘Mondschein’
I. Adagio sostenuto
II. Allegretto
III. Presto agitato – Adagio – Presto agitato

Bagatelles, Op. 126
No. 3: Andante
No. 4: Presto
No. 5: Quasi allegretto

SIDE C Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31 No. 2 ‘The Tempest’
‘La Tempête’ · ‘Der sturm’
I. Largo – Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto

Bagatelle No. 6, Op. 126: Presto – Andante amabile e con moto

SIDE D Piano Sonata No. 21 in C, Op. 53 ‘Waldstein’
I. Allegro con brio
II. Introduzione: Adagio molto
III. Rondo: Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo

Stephen Kovacevich piano

Recorded: Studio 1, Abbey Road, London, XII.1992 (Op. 53) & VII.1994 (Op. 31); Lyndhurst Hall, Air Studios, London, V.1997 (Op. 13), XII.1999 (Op. 27) & X.2001 (Op. 126)
Producer: John Fraser
Recording engineer: Mike Hatch (Opp. 13, 27 & 126), Mark Vigars (Opp. 31 & 53)
Total timing: 97 minutes

0190296741548 · A Warner Classics release, (p) 1993 (Op. 53), 1995 (Op. 31), 1998 (Op. 13), 2001 (Op. 27) & 2003 (Op. 126) Parlophone Records Limited.
A Warner Classics compilation (p) & © 2021 Parlophone Records Limited.
www.warnerclassics.com

LONG PLAY 33 ⅓ R.P.M. RECORD
180GR. PRESSING